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FERC Issues NOPR Proposing Revisions to FAC-003 Reliability Standard

On October 18, 2012, in Docket No. RM12-4, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing various revisions to the FAC-003 Standard regarding transmission vegetation management. The proposed standard would expand the applicability of the standard to include overhead transmission lines operated below 200kV, if they are either (a) an element of an Interconnection Reliability Operating Limit (IROL) or (b) an element of a Major WECC Transfer Path. The proposed Standard also incorporates a new minimum annual vegetation inspection requirement and new minimum vegetation clearance distances into the text of the standard. The NOPR proposes to approve three definitions, the implementation plan and the Violation Severity Levels (VSLs) associated with the proposed Reliability Standard. Finally, FERC proposes to approve the majority of Violation Risk Factors (VRFs) for the proposed standard, except it proposes to direct NERC to revise the VRF for Requirement R2.